Mommy Makeover

(Post-Maternity Breast and Body Contouring)

Giving birth can be one of the most rewarding experiences of a woman's life. Unfortunately, pregnancy and breast-feeding often result in unwanted changes in a woman's body, such as drooping breasts, enlarged nipple areolas, loss of a curved waist, burden of fat in the abdomen and waist, stretch marks, sagging tummy skin that no amount of exercise and dieting seems to fix, and muscle abdomen muscle weakness with a pooch. The loose muscles and stretched skin improve somewhat after pregnancy, but the body usually never completely returns to the way it was before pregnancy.

It used to be that women were resigned to living with these natural changes in their bodies due to pregnancy. Now, however, more and more women are seeking out plastic surgeons to rejuvenate their breasts and tummies to the more youthful firmness they enjoyed before having children. These procedures are collectively called "mommy makeovers" or post-maternity breast and body reshaping.

Mommy Makeovers: Breast Lift

The aftermath of pregnancy can leave you with sagging breasts, uneven breasts, lost breast volume, and stretched areolas (the dark skin surrounding the nipple). A breast lift, or mastopexy, can be performed to help reverse these changes and return a more youthful shape and lift to your breasts. This is accomplished by removing excess skin and tightening supporting tissues to achieve an uplifted, firmer and more youthful contour. After a mastopexy, the breasts are higher on the chest and firmer to the touch. Breast lifts after pregnancy can also reduce areolar size and reposition downward-pointing nipples. According to Dr. Bershof, a 5280 Top Doctor, often a breast augmentation is performed along with the lift, not just for size increase, but also for better shape and more firmness.

Your post-maternity breast lift will be tailored to you, depending on your individual case and goals. Breast size does not change after a breast lift, nor does the fullness or roundness in the upper part of the breasts improve much. Because of the limits of a breast lift, in and of itself, women who have lost breast volume with pregnancy might desire a breast augmentation be included along with the breast lift. A breast augmentation with a lift adds volume and firmness. Other women after pregnancy have too large of breasts that are also sagging and these women might benefit from a breast reduction, which also lifts the breasts, makes them firmer as the size is reduced. Large breasts that are sagging usually don’t improve much unless the size is reduced, they’ll just sag again.

Mommy Makeovers: Breast Augmentation

Many women lose breast volume after pregnancy or they might have been small beforehand but enjoyed the fullness that pregnancy and breast-feeding gave them. In either case, their breasts are small after having children, appear to be sagging, and lack firmness. A breast augmentation is often the solution in this setting; and sometimes a nipple lift (which is not a breast lift) or a breast lift is added for additional improvement.

A breast augmentation will be tailored to your desires, as well as to your body shape. Whether it is to return to your pre-pregnancy size or another size, Dr. Bershof will help you to decide the approximate size implant that will meet your goals. If some type of lift is needed, he'll recommend your options.

Mommy Makeovers: Breast Reduction

Most women find that their breasts enlarge to a fuller size and shape while they are pregnant. Afterwards, a natural diminution after pregnancy and breast-feeding leaves some women with the empty-looking, drooping breasts that might benefit from a breast lift, a breast augmentation, or both. For many other women, however, the breasts remain larger than desired after childbirth, and might also be sagging. Breast reduction surgery may be the solution in these cases, which will both reduce size and lift the breasts. Inherent in a breast reduction is a breast lift.

One reason women may seek breast reduction after giving birth is to return the breasts to the smaller size they had before becoming pregnant. In addition, breast reduction can relieve the common symptoms of large breasts, such as neck, back and shoulder pain, improper posture, rashes under the breasts, low self-esteem or a heightened self consciousness. Breast reduction can address these issues by removing fat and glandular breast tissue and as well as tightening skin to produce smaller, lighter and lifted breasts that are in a healthier proportion to the rest of the body.

Breast reduction surgery is not recommended for women who intend to breast-feed in the future, as reduction surgery might interfere with the ability to breast feed, and the breasts might also get large again from pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Mommy Makeovers: Tummy Tuck

Perhaps nowhere else on the body is pregnancy more unforgiving than in the abdomen. By stretching and weakening the skin and muscles of the tummy and waist, pregnancy can leave you with loose skin, stretch marks, a prominent pooch (rectus muscle weakness) and loss of the waist curve that no amount of exercise will correct. A tummy tuck, also known as abdominoplasty, can help.

Tummy tucks help to flatten and shape the abdomen and waist by removing excess skin and fat and by tightening the rectus muscles. The result is a firmer tummy and more defined waistline. Dr. Bershof has been performing abdominoplasties with excellent cosmetic results for over 20 years.

Women who also suffer from areas of fat in the back, hips, and thighs after pregnancy may benefit from liposuction of these areas at the same time as the tummy tuck.

Results from the tummy tuck procedure will diminish if a woman has another pregnancy, so we advise patients who plan to become pregnant to delay abdominoplasty until done with child bearing.

Mommy Makeovers: Liposuction

Women after pregnancy may find that they have burdens of fat in the lower abdomen, waist, hips and thighs that weren’t there before and that don't respond to diet or exercise. They may also find that they have lost definition in their waistline. Women who had C-sections may also suffer from areas of fat hanging over their surgical scar. Each of these post-maternity body changes can be improved through liposuction and if needed, a mini-tummy tuck.

Liposuction sculpts the body after pregnancy by removing undesirable, diet-resistant fat from the abdomen, waist, hips, buttock crease and/or thighs. It offers the opportunity to slim and contour areas of the body that did not "spring back" to their pre-baby tone. With liposuction, you can minimize areas of fat caused by pregnancy and enhance the curve of the waistline. Liposuction is not for weight reduction although some people do lose a few pounds with the procedure.